Somewhere between backpackers with their turtle-shell packs sleeping on steel bunk beds, and cashed-up travellers enjoying a $400-a-night resort is a third category of savvy travellers.

They’re called the boutique travellers. The category is the natural progression of the increasingly hip Gen X – those who’d choose a moody hole-in-the-wall wine bar over a fine-dining table in a chef-hatted restaurant.

They enjoy immersing themselves in left-field art galleries, listening to live music with the locals and buying handmade at the markets over mass-produced counterparts.

Instead of following tours, they design their own – they rent cars while travelling in small groups and write their own itineraries.

The rise in boutique travel is reflective of a changing travel industry largely lead by the rise of the web, says Anthony Hill. Hill has worked and operated adventure travel companies in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Australasia for over 30 years.

“Over the years I have followed how the travellers experiences and travel style has matured,” he explains.

“Where once the traveller would take the limited travel itineraries in brochures as gospel, now they use the internet to search and want to travel further aboard to more remote areas.

“This desire to experience the ‘real’ destinations that haven’t been overdeveloped for tourism has created the need for boutique travel and touring.”

Bhutan, on the Himalayas’ eastern edge is known for its monasteries, fortresses (or dzongs) and dramatic landscapes including steep cliff faces.

Anthony says boutique travel experiences can range from three star to five star accommodation right through to an Indian palace or remote tented camp. The appeal of the accommodation for the boutique traveller lies in the authenticity and personality the accommodation offers, not how fluffy the towels are or how cheap the beds are.